(Closed) Pregnant & scared to eat

I am 12 weeks pregnant and have been having pretty bad morning sickness in the mornings and at night since about week 5/6. All I’ve wanted to eat is fruit for the most part but I can get peanut butter and jelly down as well. Lately I’ve been totally terrified to eat at all.

At first the thought of food made me sick, now my morning sickness is slowing down but it’s being replaced by this totally bizarre fear of eating. I get hungry and go to look for something to eat but it’s almost like my mind is stronger than my stomach and it just keeps telling me “don’t eat don’t eat don’t eat”. No matter what the food is I convince myself it’s not healthy or sometimes I even think it’s poison. I usually throw my food out halfway through eating and end up only eating a couple of bites at a time. I know this makes me sound crazy but I’m really not, I have no history of any food issues, I don’t know what is going on with me! But I’m so hungry and even if I just eat a peice of fruit I obsess over it and whether I should have eaten it. I’ve been losing little bits of weight lately but at my last check up the baby was growing fine.

What the heck is going on??? Has anyone experienced this? I’m honestly too embarrassed to ask my midwife about this.

Don’t be embarrassed – for the sake of you and your child, please consult a doctor/your midwife about this. There may be something going on that’s an underlying problem, or it may be psychological as a result of your extreme morning sickness.

Make sure to always have food around so that when you do get hungry- eat! My nurse even said “I don’t care if it’s pizza, grilled cheese or a McDonalds burger- if you can eat it and keep it down- then do so!”

Are you scared that you won’t be able to keep it down, or you’re wondering if it’s good enough for the baby?

If it’s the first one, I went through something similar and found that if, instead of looking at what food I had and picking one, I trust my instinct and go buy what I was “craving” for, I was able to keep it down.

For example, I would think that I’m hungry and mangoes would come to mind. I’d go for mango smoothies (enhanced with protein and other good stuff). It was the only thing that didn’t make me feel nauseous. So I’d be on that for a few days, then it was pineapples, etc. Let’s just say I had a big tropical fruit smoothies phase, but anything else didn’t stay put, and I was too scared to even try anything else then the weekly craving.

Thanks guys. I definitely try to have foods I can keep down around, which is really just fruit. I usually can’t eat anything oily or cheesy, dairy, most vegetables, tomato sauces, really anything salty. I think it may have something to do with vomitting so much, but it’s much more intense than just worrying I may throw up, it’s like a fear of food. Sometimes I take a bite and think “this tastes like paste, this must have plastic in it” weird stuff like that. I thought maybe it was a common problem from throwing up, it’s just so bizarre. I don’t see food as food anymore and I really just eat enough to keep me from dry heaving. I guess I’ll suck it up and call my midwife. Thanks again.

When you mention the plastic it makes me think of Pica where you actually want to eat weird things like ice and dirt. I know this sounds weird, but it happens often in pregnancy and you might just have a different form of it. Either way please call your doctor so they can give you some nausea medications and fluids if you are dehydrated.

It sounds like you’re feeilng anxious, probably from experiencing the morning sickness, but also maybe worrying that what you’re eating is safe for the baby? Another thing to consider is that being pregnant, your senses are different, too (sense of smell stronger, etc), so that could be affecting your eating habits also. You midwife should be able to help:)

This sounds like more than the average food aversions. Definitely call your medical provider about it.

In the meantime, are you having the same issues with liquids? When my morning sickness is at it’s worst, I can usually keep down liquids easier than I can solid foods, so I do a lot of smoothies, protein shakes, etc… That might help you get some protein/nutrients into your diet, despite the anxiety.

You are not alone!!! I actually had to call my midwife about it. I’ve lost a ton of weight since getting pregnant. First it was morning sickness and food aversion, and now when I go looking for something to eat, nothing looks good and I’m afraid about what havoc it’s going to cause in my tummy. Then when I think about it, it actually turns my stomach and then can’t eat. It’s really awful.

She gave me a ton of tips and I’m now consuming a lot more food. Her first tip was to drink ensure. It allowed me to get in nutrion and calories in and started curbing my fear about what was going to come up :/ You may want to start there.

@mwitter80: Thank you! That’s my husband’s theory too, I avoid food so much that by the time I eat it feels like it’s burning a hole in my stomach and I convince myself there was something wrong with what I ate. I think the plastic/paste thing is my tastebuds acting funny, and it REALLY isn’t helping my appetite. I will get a vitamin shake, that’s a great idea. I was starting to think I was going crazy because everything I’ve heard has told me I should be eating, craving foods, and gaining weight by now.

@Moja Milosc: If he’s willing to help, ask Darling Husband to prepare a plate for you. When searching for food I would psych myself out. When Darling Husband would make me breakfast or something and bring it to me so I didn’t have to think about it, I could eat at least some of it. He started easy, with a bagel or something similar.

I’m not pregnant nor have I ever been but anytime I get nauseous I panic about throwing up. I get myself more worked up thinking about being scared of throwing up I make it worse on myself. For days after if I do actually end up getting sick and haven’t totally scared my self out of it. I have trouble eating because I fear getting sick again. Talk to your doctor about ways to calm yourself or find a food or two you know you can eat like crackers or toast and build from there though the day.

I also wanted to add something that my midwife told me. She recommended to start off with popsicles. when I’m super nauseous and NOTHING sounds good, I have a popsicle. It calms my stomach down enough and the coolness really helps. Then I’m able to eat a little more after that.

Also, in the same vein, I’ve been getting smoothies from jamba juice. I know they have sugar in them, and I used to make my own, but the jamba juice ones have been the only ones that sound good. Last night I actually got a large one, because it was all I could stomach for dinner. I am going to go back to making my own this weekend to see if I can tolerate them, but for some reason, the coolness seems to help my tummy and they are more nutritious then popscicles.